I thought I never needed to see another documentary about climate change until I saw “Chasing Ice.”

Jeff Orlowski’s film offers a few of the usual statistics about how dramatically our world is changing, but otherwise, its focus is fresh and surprisingly beautiful.

“Chasing Ice” keys in on photographer James Balog, who finds great beauty in shots of glaciers, as well as disturbing evidence that they are, literally, not long for this world.

Much of the time, “Chasing Ice” feels like one of those coffee-table gift books projected on a big screen, except that the images move. This is most dramatically apparent in a stunning sequence where a couple of Balog’s researchers camp out next to a glacier they think is about to break apart. Right before their — and our — eyes, a hunk the size of several football fields simply disappears into the ocean. It’s a moving and disturbing sight that makes it tough to argue with Balog’s contention that glaciers are “the place where you can see climate change happening.”

Parts of “Chasing Ice” tell the story of how Balog went about capturing the vanishing glaciers. Those sequences are suspenseful and give a human dimension to a movie about big hunks of ice. But the real meat of the film is devastating footage that makes a convincing case that the story of climate change is best told by pictures, not words.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that’s why the stunning “Chasing Ice” eats the didactic “An Inconvenient Truth” for breakfast.

— Chris Hewitt

“CHASING ICE”

Directed by: Jeff Orlowski

Rated: PG-13, for brief language

Should you go? Yes. Beyond its important message, it’s simply a terrific film. ***-1/2

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